Semiconductor Boom Lifts KOSPI Back Above 7,000 Despite Middle East Risks

[Anchor]

Despite mounting risks from the Middle East, the KOSPI has surpassed the 7,000-point mark for the first time in 33 trading sessions. Expectations for continued growth in the semiconductor market are rising as OpenAI's announcement of its new model, Astra, reaffirmed expanding demand for artificial intelligence.

Reporter Lee Tae-gwon has the details.

[Reporter]

The KOSPI opened at 6,972 and expanded its gains from the morning, crossing 7,100 during the session.

Although it gave up some of the gains in the afternoon, it closed up 1.4% at 7,051.

This marks the first time the index has closed above the 7,000-point threshold in 33 trading sessions since July 23.

Other corporate entities, reflecting treasury stock purchases by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, net purchased 1.7 trillion won, maintaining a net buying advantage for the fourth consecutive session.

While Samsung Electronics finished flat, SK Hynix rose 3.5%, and buying pressure spread to secondary battery and power equipment stocks.

Despite multiple headwinds, including rising global oil prices and climbing U.S. Treasury yields amid ongoing military conflicts in the Middle East, expectations for AI growth drove the upward trend.

The influence was largely driven by continued expectations for expanded AI infrastructure demand following OpenAI's unveiling of its new AI model, Astra, alongside strength in semiconductor stocks in the U.S. stock market.

[Lee Jin-woo / Head of Research Center, Merits Securities: There is an atmosphere where the U.S. AI-related trend is shifting back from software to hardware, and amidst that, there are also some upward revisions in earnings forecasts by chip makers...]

However, the market's upward momentum appears constrained as retail investors engage in selling to break even whenever the stock market rises.

Retail investors have net sold over 15 trillion won this month alone.

[Park Sang-hyun / Research Fellow, iM Securities: Right now, retail investors are continuing to sell heavily whenever the index surpasses the 7,000 line, so this accumulation of sell orders could become the biggest obstacle to settling above the 7,000 line or achieving a sustained upward trend...]

Meanwhile, as stronger-than-expected employment revives the possibility of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Consumer Price Index to be released the day after tomorrow (the 11th) is expected to be a watershed moment determining the short-term direction of the stock market.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

Reported by Bae Moon-san | Video by Kim Jin-won | Graphics by Lee Jun-ho
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.